Durant leads Texas over New Mexico State

Durant scored 27 points to lead the fourth-seeded Longhorns to a
79-67 victory over upset-minded New Mexico State in an NCAA
Tournament East Region first-round matchup.

Texas (25-9) advances to a second-round matchup against either
Southern California or Arkansas on Sunday.

Durant had a quiet night by his usual magnificent standards,
failing to score a field goal for nearly 12 minutes in the
second half as the 13th-seeded Aggies charged back from a
14-point halftime deficit to go ahead, 60-57, with just over 6
1/2 minutes left.

Texas answered back with an 18-6 run that featured eight points
from Durant - all on free throws - to assume a 76-66 advantage
with 1:10 to play.

"They did a great job of denying me the ball," Durant said.
"When I got the ball in the post they sent two or three guys at
me. But I gave the ball up to my teammates and they made plays
as well and I got to the free-throw line and hit my free
throws."

The stripe proved to be decisive in the contest as the Longhorns
made 25-of-26 from the game, with a miss from Durant keeping
them from a perfect tally.

"I thought we were a little bit jumpy to start with, which you
kind of expect that this time of year," Texas coach Rick Barnes
said. "But once we settled in about 10 minutes, I thought that
the way we ended the half offensively, I thought the second half
we would come out and continue that. And I thought we did a
pretty good job with it."

The Longhorns came out strong in the second half, using an early
11-0 run to take a 47-33 lead. Connor Atchley had five points
in the spurt, including a 3-pointer, and finished with seven
points, six rebounds and three blocked shots.

"He played great tonight. He came in and got some key rebounds
for us," guard A.J. Abrams said. "He played his role to the T.
He came in, set screens, got other guys open, and he rebounded
and got some offensive put-backs and I think that's what we need
from him."

New Mexico State (25-9) showed its mettle as Elijah Ingram hit
back-to-back 3-pointers to start a 19-6 surge. Ingram had 11
points in the run to slice the deficit to 53-52 and it remained
tight until Durant stepped up with his clutch free-throw
shooting.

"When we went up with the about six minutes or so left in the
game, all I told our guys is that we would have a chance if we
out rebounded them, and played harder than they did, we would
have our chance," Aggies coach Reggie Theus said. "They were
phenomenal from the free-throw line. Every time we made a run
it seemed like they were going to the line."